What sort of dead is he?

I am not asking a rhetorical question in today's blog headline. In fact I am asking one of the most serious questions ever asked about a human being whose fate is placed in the hands of a scientist.

You see, some in the pro-life movement are claiming that the Coleman/Isakson embryonic stem cell bill, S. 30, is actually a pro-life proposal. The bill, described as the "HOPE" act is not what it seems.

The bill defines those human embryos who can be killed in order to take their stem cells as follows:

NATURALLY DEAD – The term "naturally dead" means having naturally and irreversibly lost the capacity for integrated cellular division, growth, and differentiation that is characteristic of an organism, even if some cells of the former organism may be alive in a disorganized state.

Now tell me, if you are a scientist who is desperate for human embryonic stem cells, would you use your judgment to deem an embryo as naturally dead so that you could use his stem cells? And who would question you?

Don't be deceived. This bill is about as pro-life as Planned Parenthood. Let's ask our pro-life confreres to examine things in the light of reason instead of the light of politics.